20% Warmer Than Usual

by Black_Board23

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3315

Rainbow convinces Twilight to go on vacation, but it goes pear-shaped when they crash in the desert.

When Rainbow Dash discovers the true extend of Twilight Sparkle's book obsession, she convinces the unicorn to go on a vacation with her to Manehattan. But 700 miles and a broken wing later, they've crashed in Saddle Arabian desert due to an unexpected passenger. How will they get back to Ponyville? How will they communicate with the locals? And exactly how soon does the sun set in the desert?

NOTE: Derpy Hooves doesn't come in until chapter 4

Published 2012-07-16 14:54:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-16 14:54:02 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Ah, reshelving day; one of my favorite days of the year. Well, maybe next to book delivery day, or list-making day.” Twilight Sparkle though to her self as she trotted down the stairs of her house. She was very excited to spend so much time immersed in her books today. It was the one day of the year she got to spend 24 full hours surrounded by material knowledge. She went into the center of the first floor and sat down to make herself comfortable. After all, she would be in this place for a long time today. Her unicorn’s horn began to glow with magic and all the books flew out of the shelves and began to float in mid-air. Out of the corner of her light purple eyes, a certain book caught Twilight’s attention. It was her favorite book. She smiled and slowly lifted it up to the window so she could see it better in Celestia’s gorgeous sun. The book hung there for a minute. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, a massive force shook the tree and the windows blew out, and a rainbow shot straight into the book on an inadvertable crash course for the wall. Twilight sighed and simply said, “Good morning, Rainbow Dash.” A muffled response came from the sky-blue Pegasus as the rainbow began to fade. Rainbow was finally able to pull her face from the book and say, “Sorry about the rude awakening, Twilight.” “It’s okay, I was already up, but furthermore, you destroyed my favorite book!” Twilight said with a bit of anger. “ What, that?” Rainbow responded, pointing a hoof at what looked like a pancake on the wall. “Yes!” the unicorn yelled back angrily. “What was the book, anyway?” the Pegasus asked. With a groan, twilight yanked the book from the wall with her magic and read off the cover, “ List-making for Intelligent Ponies: A Complete Guide to Making Successful Lists.” “Oh. I though it would be something interesting, like Daring Do.” Rainbow Dash responded. “It is interesting,” twilight protested with frustration, “it even includes a collection of 150 of the most successful lists in history!” “Well, I think you need to get out of the tree more” Rainbow chuckled. “Everything I would experience out there I can experience in here.” Twilight tried to justify her behavior. Then, a though occurred in the blue Pegasus’s mind. Her eyes lit up as she said. “Hey, I got an idea! How about I take you on a trip to Manehattan? That’s why I was training so early in the morning; the Wonderbolts are performing there on Wednesday and I wanted to show them my stunts! Plus you could enjoy all the historical places there.” Twilight Sparkle looked up for a bit and scratched her chin in deep thought. It was obvious she was making a list of pros and cons in her head. After a moment, Twilight came out of her trance and said, “Well, I have wanted to make a paper about the Monument of Harmony for a while…” “Is that the statue of the big green mare holding up the Elements?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight responded with a nod, still so distracted by the decision she was pondering that she didn’t catch on to the obviousness of the question. Eventually the purple unicorn said, “Well, okay. I’ll go with you to Manehattan.” Begrudgedly. Rainbow threw her arms up in success and yelled, “Yes! This is going to be so AWESOME!” Then came a little rustling and a weak voice came form upstairs saying, “Come on Twilight, I’m trying to sleep.” The two mares laughed on about it. When the laughter died down, Rainbow Dash whispered excitedly, “Lets get packing!”

Sorry it's so short compared to most stories. It's my first attempt at a fan fiction and I despise writing thousands of words.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Packing: a simple task. At least that's what Twilight Sparkle had thought after Rainbow Dash brought it up. Now the mare was standing above an empty suitcase and she was second-guessing it. the bag had so much potential, it was the largest one at Ponyville's equipment store. It's only task was to be stretched to it's physical capacity and carry whatever was put in it. She could fill it with only the bare necessities and go literally anywhere. She could also endow it with all the books that would fit and learn about literally anything. The unicorn knew that, however mush she wanted, she couldn't do that; the bag would either break or be very hard to carry, even with magic. Twilight finally stopped thinking to an almost philosophical level of what to pack and started doing it instead. One mandatory item she'd have to bring would writing utensils, since her reason to go to Manehattan in the first place was to write a report. Through telekinesis, the scrolls, quills, and ink jars she'd be using floated off her table downstairs, up the stair case, into her bedroom, and into the top left part of her suit case. Next, Twilight thought of how she would transport them to the monument she'd be writing about. So, thinking about where she last left it, Twilight levitated her saddle bag with a six-point star on it off it's hook near the door to the library up to her room, placing it right next to the quills. "Hmm, lots of space left, but I still have a lot of packing. It took me ten minutes from getting the bag to packing these two items, so this is going to take awhile." Four hours and several bouts of philosophical though later, the purple unicorn was totally exhausted and, luckily, almost done with this evil process. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Since Twilight was too tired to walk down to the door , she just yelled, "Come in, the door's open!" Rainbow Dash bashed through the door with a saddle bag and said, "Hi Twilight. You done packing yet?" "Close, but no." Twilight responded. Rainbow questioned, "How can you not be? I started packing, like, ten minutes ago and I'm done." Twilight's jaw dropped open. "I have two questions for you," Twilight begun to ask, "One: how can you fit all your stuff into just a saddle bag? Two: How is it possible to pack everything you need in ten minutes?" Rainbow Dash looked a little confused about the questions, but still answered, "Well, to answer both your questions, I don't need that much stuff. I'm only packing my flying goggles and a few bits to spend in the city." Well, that's not the case for me." Twilight said defiantly. Rainbow dash raised an eyebrow at her friend, reached into her suitcase and said, "Do you really need a spare inflatable desk?" Twilight rolled her eyes and said, "Well of course I do, what if the hotel we're staying at doesn't have a table to put things on?" "You just keep them in your bag, then." Rainbow said with a sigh. Twilight blushed and looked away, embarrassed that she hadn't even thought of it. Finally after getting through those issues, the sky-colored pegasus dove head first into the big one. "So what's taking you so long anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked very directly. "This." Twilight simply levitated a book up between them. It was sand-colored with a few specks of dust on the cover meaning it hadn't been read in a few weeks, a lot of shelf time in Twilight's library. "The Complete Guide to Saddle Arabia," Rainbow read slowly, having to squint to read the small print. "Why the hoof would you need that?" the pegasus asked with confusion over why it was taking up her friend's time. Twilight responded, "Well, we'll be flying over Saddle Arabia and I want to be able to recognize all the important structures there." "Well, bring it if you want, but all that stuff plus yourself will come pretty close to the weight in the balloon you'll be traveling in." Rainbow Dash replied with a little worry that she couldn't keep out of her voice. "That settles it then!" Twilight said with happiness in her voice from getting to not only finish packing, but to also bring the book. She placed in on all her other belongings in the bag and zipped it with a sense of finalization. Both of the ponies in unison then said, "Next stop, Manehattan!"

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was finally here. The day that Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow dash would leave for Manehattan. Twilight was a little shy about it, the only time she traveled was when one of her friends needed her along. Like when Applejack ran off to earn money at a cherry orchard . Or when Pinkie Pie wanted them to go with her to the dessert contest in Canterlot. Bad memories, there. Also, all those times she had travelled on the Friendship Express. This time, they were traveling in a sketchy contraption Rainbow Dash had tied together. The balloon that Twilight Sparkle kept in her basement for special occasions was tied to a rope which in turn was tied around Rainbow Dash's waist. She also said it would help her train for her performance in front of the Wonderbolts. Twilight had also assigned Spike to crunching the numbers on the weight capacity of it all. It should be able to withstand the weight of 2 ponies plus baggage. "Well, let's go." Rainbow Dash said, impatiently. She didn't like staying grounded for long amounts of time. "Sorry, I'm just struggling with my luggage. I swear it wasn't this heavy when I finished packing last night." Twilight said back, lugging her enormous bag into the balloon. "Weird. But still, it'll be good for my exercise. So, say your goodbyes to everyone and lets go." Dash said while tapping all four hooves, a skill she'd learned in flight school. The pegasus was just bristling with energy, ready to jump off the ground and fly. "Don't worry, I'll try and make it quick." The dawn-colored unicorn promised. In fact, the mare's friends had gathered on the hill they would take off from in a bon voyage party. Pinkie Pie, of course, had insisted on it. Rarity was sitting on the red velvet couch she always seemed to lug around with a new hat she'd designed for summer. She bragged that is was not only fabulous, but also practical. As a going away present, Applejack had brought both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle a cup of apple cider and a jar of zap apple jam the earth pony had saved from their seasons that year. Fluttershy, ever so cautious, offered to help clear the skies before their take-off. The pegasus had done a good job too, there wasn't another pegasus or balloon or chariot in the sky as far as the eye could see. Twilight Sparkle gave a meaningful hug and a thank you to each of them for what they'd contributed to the trip. "Well, I guess it's finally time to go." Twilight said with an heir of finality to it. She hopped into the balloon and let go of some of the weights holding it down. The balloon lifted slowly to the heavens as both ponies traveling with it waved back at the party below. Eventually, when each pony below them looked slightly larger than a blade of grass, Rainbow Dash reached into her saddle bag and pulled out her flying goggles and strapped them on. "Ready to go?" the pegasus asked. "As ready as I'll ever be." Twilight Sparkle answered with a groan. "In that case, you better hold onto something." Rainbow Dash advised. "Why would I have to d-WHOOAAAAAA!!" Twilight screamed as her question was pulled from her mouth and instantly answered. The balloon shot forward from an almost complete stop to screaming across the sky in seconds, it's sights set for the city of Manehattan. Any passerby seeing them would have thought that they were about to crash any minute. Twilight didn't think any different. She suddenly came across a problem in her head, both literally and metaphorically. The unicorn tried to scream at the crazy driver, "You need to slow down! Since pegasi are built to travel at high speeds, they can withstand huge amounts of g-forces. Unicorns aren't! If you don't slow down, I'm going black o-." He head made a soft thud against the wicker of the balloon basket as she slumped over. Rainbow Dash wasn't aware of what had just transpired in the balloon. All she was aware of was that, in a few long hours, they would be in one of the largest cities in Equestria.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

The first thing the mare saw was blinding sunlight. She immediately closed her eyes again. Twilight Sparkle had just woken up from her black out after about three hours. It must have been onset from a drop in speed. Come to think of it, Twilight couldn't feel herself moving at all. WHen she remembered the incident and got adjusted to the sunlight she opened her eyes again. She was staring at the top of the balloon. It looked wrong, however, almost deflated. Suddenly Rainbow Dash peaked out over the edge and trying to keep the panic out of her voice, said, "Uh, Twilight? We got a problem." Twilight Sparkle, clearly still groggy but worried now, asked," What is it?" "Well, to put it frankly, we're going down." Rainbow answered with despair. That snapped Twilight out of it like a whip. "What?! How?!" the unicorn began asking questions frantically. "I don't know!" Rainbow Dash said, the words flying out of her mouth, "We were flying along and I was taking a short break when I noticed that the balloon was feeling really heavy. When I turned around to see it, it was almost flat! Then I flew over to it and grabbed it by the top. I've been holding it like this for around five minutes." In that case, we are gonna crash!" Twilight said sadly. "If only Octavia was here to play us off," Twilight thought. "How much time do we have le-AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"Rainbow screamed as the balloon lost it's final bit of air. It spiraled to the ground like a rock. Just before they hit the ground from hundreds of feet up, Twilight was able to make out the words, "I told you you shouldn't have brought that book!!" Then thud. A solid, heavy, disgusting thud of two living organisms smashing into the ground and bouncing. It was enough to curdle the air around them and it would have been described by a viewer as worse that hooves on a chalkboard. They lay there in an empty silence waiting to be filled with words and life. But it never came.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash was the first to wake up. The first thing that hit her was a searing, but very recognizable pain in her left wing. After she pushed through it, she remembered where it was from. The last time she'd felt pain like that, her wing had been broken! The injured pegasus looked back and, to her suspicions, her wing was pointing in a direction it shouldn't be able to. "AAAAAHHH!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs. That woke Twilight Sparkle. She only had a lot of cuts and bruises, but was otherwise alright. The purple unicorn tenderly got up and groggily said, " Alright, I'm getting used to blacking out by now, so what happened?" "I broke my wing!" Rainbow answered, frantic to get the words out. "Oh sweet Celestia! I need to make a splint for it, I have enough materials in my bag." Twilight responded in the blink of an eye. Gingerly walking around the crash site, Twilight found her luggage case a few meters from the demolished and deflated balloon. She unzipped it and almost instantly let out a blood-curdling scream. Because the suitcase was looking back at her with two big yellow eyes! However, Twilight recognized them vaguely. These eyes were special. They weren't pointed in the right direction. Having a good idea of who it was, the unicorn carefully walked up to the bag and pulled out the rest of the pony by the wing. She tumbled out of the suitcase. Having her suspicions confirmed, Twilight slapped a scraped hoof to her face and let out a long, disappointed sigh. The grey mare standing in front of Twilight Sparkle said, very expectedly, "I just don't know what went wrong!" in a voice so happy ant confused it made you want to smile. Twilight calmed her nerves a bit and said, "Of all the possible stowaways on our balloon that could've made us crash, why did it have to be YOU Derpy Hooves?!" Looking sad now, Derpy stood up, shook herself off, and said," Well, I heard you guys were going on a trip and I thought I could help you fall." Twilight blinked, the gears in her head turning, thinking about what was just said to her. Suddenly, she realized what what was meant and her teeth began to grit and her mouth started to turn into an uncontrollable scowl. The last time she'd been this angry had been when her, Pinkie Pe, Applejack, and Fluttershy had finished running from a hydra and Pinkie said that it wasn't the doozy her pinkie sense had detected. If unicorns were flammable, Twilight Sparkle wouldn't exploded. "When I said we were going on a TRIP," Twilight growled through her clenched jaw,"I mean't we were going on a VACATION!" The minute she screamed at Derpy, the purple unicorn regretted it. All the happiness in the grey pegasus's eyes drained away as she frowned and looked at the ground. Clearly disheartened, Derpy Hooves said, "Oh, my bad." Twilight softened up and reached out to her, saying, "Hey, it's not that bad." Up to then, Rainbow Dash had just laid there quietly, listening to what transpired behind her. But that comment really set her off. "Not that bad? How in the hoof is it not that bad? We're trapped in the middle of- wherever we are and I've still got a broken wing!" she shouted screamed. Wherever that pegasus goes, trouble follows, Rainbow Dash though to herself. The last time I saw her, I nearly got electrocuted and was smashed into the basement of the town hall. Twilight hated to admit it, but Rainbow had a good point. They didn't have a clue where they were. For the first time, the three of them took a good look at their surroundings. All that they could see was sand for miles around. Whatever it was, a mountain, a valley, a dune, it was all made of sand. There was no doubt about it, they were in a desert. "Now that I mention it, where are we anyway?" Rainbow questioned, the anger in her voice replaced with mild insecurity. "It's about 20 percent warmer than usual here." Rainbow said. Realizing how close that was to her famous quote, she laughed a little bit to herself very briefly. The brevity of it was caused when the pegasus saw the rock-solid look that Twilight Sparkle wore on her face. Also noticing it, Derpy asked, "What's wrong, Twilight?" in a somewhat concerned tone. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I know where we are." Twilight said very vaguely. There was a short silence, filled only with the sound of the desert wind whipping about after that. Rainbow Dash broke it by saying, "Well, okay. Spit out the bad news already." "The bad news," Twilight Sparkle began to say, taking a gulp first, "The bad news is that we're in Saddle Arabia."